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Chapter 33



'Do You Wanna Dance?'



" 'Colloportus'."



The door to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom sealed itself. Severus turned and saw Anna standing on the landing at the door to her chambers, wearing her favorite kimono. He started walking, unbuttoning the sleeves of his tunic as he proceeded the length of the classroom. She smiled and turning, disappeared into her bedroom.



He heard soft music begin playing; guitar, piano and bongo drums? A smile played across his lips. 'I've waited long enough,' he thought, '/no time for romantic foolishness/.' Undoing the front buttons, he shrugged off the coat as he mounted the stairs, two at a time.



As he turned the corner and stepped through the door, he flung the coat onto a chair, but then froze in his tracks. The room was bathed in soft light from rock crystal candleholders positioned on every available flat surface and from half a dozen crystal chandeliers, floating lazily around in the air above them.



Anna was standing across the room, her back to him, swaying with the music coming from the victrola on the table in front of her.



'Do you wanna dance, and hold my hand?'



Anna turned around to face him.



'Tell me you're my lover man."



Her fingers undid the sash of her kimono, which fell open to reveal her body in the soft flickering light.



'Oh, baby, do you wanna dance?'



Severus realized he was holding his breath and released the pent up air from his lungs in a long sigh, as Anna walked over to him.



'/We could dance under the moonlight/,'



She put her hands out and unbuttoned his shirt.



'/Hug and kiss all through the night/.'



She pulled the shirt loose from his trousers.



'/Oh, baby, tell me, do you wanna dance with me baby/?'



Running her hands up his chest, she put her arms around his neck and stepping closer, swaying with the music, she lifted her lips to his and kissed him softly. Then pulling back, mouthed the words along with the music, as the singer's voice became more plaintive, pleading, more urgent, sensual.



'Do you, do you, do you, do you want to dance?'



Her hips were pressed against him and he was vaguely aware of the fact he was starting to sway in rhythm with her.



'Do you, do you, do you want to dance?'



Dear God, Severus thought, /I'm being seduced/.



Her lips were brushing his as she pushed his shirt off of his shoulders and let it drop to the floor



'Do you, do you, do you, do you want to dance with me baby?'



Severus pulled her to him and kissed her deeply. Pulling the silky kimono off of her shoulders, he started kissing her neck and shoulders, and then her lips again, which were burning hot to his touch.



'/Ah, that's right, ah, ah, aaaaaaaaah/.'



The kimono slipped to the floor. Anna wrapped her arms around him.



'Do you want to dance under the moonlight?'



Severus broke off the kiss and reaching up, pulled two enameled chopsticks from the knot of hair on her head. They clattered to the floor as her auburn tresses cascaded down her back. His breath was growing ragged.



'/Hug me, kiss me, baby, all through the night/.'



Anna undid his trousers, pushed them down over his hips and let them drop.



'/Oh, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, tell me, do you want to dance/.'



Severus looked deeply into her eyes and she returned his gaze unflinchingly.



'Oh, do you, do you, do you, do you want to dance?'



Severus bent slowly forward, kissing her softly.



'Do you want to dance?'



Then, with one swift motion, he lifted her in his arms.



'Do you, do you, do you, do you want to dance with me baby?'



With a flick of his foot, his trousers joined his tunic, as he carried her to the bed.



'/Please dance with me baby/.'



X # X # X



"How is Father?" Draco asked, as Narcissa removed her cloak and dropped it over a chair in the front hall of Malfoy Manor.



"Sore, in a bit of pain, but satisfied with himself for enduring his punishment with a minimum show of weakness."



"You look dreadful, Mother."



"Thank you for noticing," she replied, touching his cheek, "and caring. I have not enjoyed the last two days, you can be sure. I don't even know where I was, except with your father. And your Aunt Bella. I didn't see anyone else. I stayed in our bed chamber. We had our meals there, too, and we ate alone."



"Why were you and Father separated from the others?"



"I don't pretend to know or care what the reasons were, Draco. All I know is that your father is desperate to prove himself to his Master. I just hope he doesn't do anything stupid or dangerous."



"He won't."



"Sure, are you?" She looked at her son. "Well, I'm not. I fear I'll lose him, Draco. But I can do nothing. When he's obsessed like this, he's beyond listening to reason."



She walked into the salon, followed by Draco.



"By the way, dear, how are you feeling? Better?"



"I'm fine."



"Are you sure? I could send Dumbledore as owl, so you could stay a few days longer, if..."



"No, mother. I want to get back to school."



"Very well, we'll get you packed and ready to go, then. First thing tomorrow."



"Fine. Well, goodnight, mother." Draco kissed her cheek. "Don't worry about Father. He's got to stay where he is until he's regained his strength. So, he'll be safe for a while."



"You're right, dear. I'll try not to worry about him. Goodnight."



Narcissa watched her son go up the stairs.



"It's not your father I'm worried about, Draco," she whispered.



Sitting wearily on the sofa, she winced as she leaned on the cushions, the bruises on her back protesting at the pressure. She was stiff, sore and bruised from the vicious beating Lucius had inflicted on her when he had found her weeping in their bed chamber at the Dark Lord's secret headquarters.



He wanted no sympathy for himself and no show of weakness or pity from her. She had stubbornly fought to not cry out as he aimed blows and kicks at her, showing her fierce determination in her eyes as she faced him when he had finished venting his anger on her.



He had apologized, as usual, asking for her forgiveness and understanding. Then he had made love to her, gently, softly, kissing the bruises, even as they bloomed on her skin. She had felt nothing, though, as if she had gone numb, in mind and body.



'/Love, ha/!' she thought. '/He doesn't know the meaning of the word, and never will. I do, but it's too late for me. But not for my son. What can I do to keep Draco safe/?'



Narcissa sat there until the wee hours of the morning, thinking, worrying, planning and finally, she stood and walked slowly up the stairs to her bed.



X # X # X



"Anastasia?"



"Hummm?"



"I just remembered something."



Pushing herself up onto one elbow, Anna flipped her hair out of her eyes and looked at Severus.



"What is it? Nothing serious, please; I've got too much of that already to think about."



"No...I brought your Christmas gift with me. I had it at the New Year's Eve party, but I couldn't get you alone long enough to give it to you."



"Oh, goody! And I've got yours, too. Where's mine?"



"Greedy little wench. It's in the pocket of my trousers. Hold on." He started to roll over to reach for his trousers, hanging off of a nearby chair.



"Watch! You're close to the..."



"/Whoa/!" KAFUMP! "Ow."



"...edge of the bed..." Crawling to the side, Anna peeped over and saw Severus sprawled, face down on the floor, the sheet hanging off the bed, entangled in his legs, drumming his fingernails on the floor.



"Are you alright?" she asked, tentatively.



"Fine. Thank you for asking."



"I did try to warn you."



"Yes. I heard you...on the way to the floor."



"Oh,dear...anything broken?"



"No."



"Bruised?"



"Ego."



"Damage /anything/?"



"Apparently not, but this is getting rather dangerous, being in love with you. I'm starting to believe I'm in real physical peril."



Severus pushed himself up and disentangled his legs from the sheet, which he tossed over his head onto the bed. Leaning back against the side of the mattress, he turned his head and looked at Anna. He then started counting on his fingers.



"Let me see. One. I've been slapped."



"Overdue payback."



"Two. Hit, repeatedly, with custard pies."



"You were no slouch at throwing them."



"Three. Put flat on my arse with that ice patch."



"You should watch where you're going."



"Four. Slammed, by you, in the chest and rolled across the floor, when you executed that 'flying tackle' of yours."



"You could have stepped out of the way and you know it. You just wanted a hug."



"Five. Assaulted with snowballs."



"You were a willing participant in that and you loved it."



"And now, six; dropped off your bed onto the floor."



"Oh, no, you're not blaming this on me, Severus Snape. You weren't paying attention."



"Very well, this time was my fault, but I still stand by what I said."



Reaching out, he grabbed his trousers and fumbled through the pockets, extracting a small fat box, wrapped in silver paper, tied with a green bow.



"Let me get yours."



Anna scrambled across the bed and picked up her wand off of the nightstand.



" 'Accio gift'."



A little flat box, wrapped in gold paper, tied with a red bow, flew across the room to be deftly caught by her. Severus stood up and putting some pillows against the headboard, sat down and leaned back. Anna turned around and settled next to him, cuddling up as he put his arm around her.



"Should we do one at a time or just exchange and rip away?" Anna was literally shaking with excitement.



"One at a time, but first...I must tell you something," Severus answered.



His serious demeanor made her stop wiggling and look at him, with her brows knit.



"What is it?"



"This belonged to my mother. I remember her wearing it when I was very young. I believe it was from...my father, perhaps a wedding gift. I hadn't seen it in years, but found it right after..." he sighed. "When I was going through her things. It was all I kept, except for one photograph that I thought was the best likeness of her; taken when she was young and happy."



"Oh, Severus."



Anna put his gift down on the bed and taking the proffered present, carefully unwrapped the box. Pausing, she slowly opened it and gasped.



"Severus...it's exquisite."



Anna lifted a delicate gold chain on which was hanging a plump ruby heart, surrounded by a net of the finest gold thread that, on inspection, more closely resembled a mesh bag made of gold spider web; a 'captive heart'.



"Let me."



Severus took the heart from her fingers and as she turned and held her hair up, put the chain around her neck and clicked the clasp shut. Then he bent and kissed the nape of her neck. Turning, she held the fat little heart in her hand and admired it.



"It's just so fragile looking, but I think that's a deliberate deception. Spider web is extraordinarily strong and the jeweler who made this must have had that in mind. It's lovely...Thank you, Severus. This means so much to me...that you'd think I'm worthy of this reminder of your mother."



She kissed him and sat back, fascinated by the reflections of the candlelight in the plump little stone.



"I have only one special memory of my mother. I was, perhaps four years old, sitting on her lap, out in our garden. It was a bright spring day and I was watching the sunlight shining in the depths of that heart. I reached out and touched it.



'Ma-Ma, it's warm' I said. 'I thought stones were cold.'



'Severus, my dear boy,' she said. 'This is a special stone. It's a heart that stays warm as long as I have it hanging around my neck, next to my heart. Two hearts keeping each other warm.'



'Like you and me, Ma-Ma?' I asked. 'When I lean on you, I can hear you heart beating and I feel safe and warm.'



'That's right, dear. That's love. As long as two hearts are together, love will keep them warm and safe. Like you and me.'



"That's the only memory I have of seeing the necklace up close and then I don't remember her wearing it much after that. I'd forgotten about it, to tell you the truth, until I found it among her personal things.

I brought it back with me to Hogwarts and I had it in my pocket, that day when we walked by the lake. I was holding onto you with one hand and had that heart clenched in the other, clinging to the only two things on this earth that represented love to me."



"Severus." She kissed his cheek.



"I kept it hidden here, until we graduated and then I put it in my vault at /Gringotts. /I saw the box when I was making a withdrawal in order to purchase a Christmas gift for you. I realized that you would understand and appreciate it."



Anna sat, shaking her head. She handed Severus the box meant for him.



"What goes around...comes around. Let me tell you about my gift for /you/. My mother bought this for my father as a twenty-fifth wedding anniversary gift. She died before she could give it to him. He found it in a drawer of her desk, wrapped and tagged. He couldn't bring himself to wear it as she hadn't had the chance to give it to him. Instead, he hung it on the frame of his favorite picture of her, on his desk. I found it when I went back to the house...after I got out of St. Mungo's. I decided to keep it as a reminder of their love and I hoped and prayed I'd be lucky enough to find someone who I'd want to give it to, to wear it.



"What about Christopher?"



"I loved him very much, but I knew he wasn't the love of my life. He's seen it, of course, hanging on her picture and understands how important it is to me. Something told me to keep it, that I'd find the right person someday. And I have."



Severus gave her a quick kiss and then unwrapped and opened the box. On a silver chain hung the symbol of St. Dwynwen, the patron saint of lovers; two intertwining triskeles. It was the sign for everlasting love.



"I'll be honored to wear this, and keep it close to my heart," he said as he slipped the chain over his head and looked down at the intricately twisted silver knot, gleaming in the candlelight. "We couldn't have done this... picked out such perfect gifts for each other, if we had tried. You're right...what goes around...comes around. We're both getting second chances, at love and at life, together." Taking her in his arms, he kissed her, and then whispered in her ear, "I can't think of life without you, now, even if we have to hide it from everyone."



Smiling, she pushed away from him, shaking her head.



"Almost everyone, don't forget, our 'secret' is now known by, let's see: Christopher, Albus, Harry - but I did a memory charm on him, so he doesn't really count. Dobby and Winky, but they won't tell, house elf secrets are sacred. I think Remus and Gwen suspect, as do some of the senior D.A. members. But we bicker enough to keep them guessing."



"Yes, the list does seem to be growing. All the more reason to use tonight to it fullest, because things are going to get nasty around Hogwarts. Especially between you and the Slytherins, with my encouragement, of course."



"I'd be disappointed if you didn't, but I know it has to be done."



"Well, what I have to do right now is show you how much I love you," Severus growled, pulling her close.



"So," she leered at him, "show me."



"Hussy!"



"You better believe it." She tossed her hair back. Then she looked deep into his eyes. 'I love you, Severus, with all my heart and soul."



"I could say ditto, but I think actions speak louder than words, don't you?"



"Stop talking and start showing."



"As you wish."